SC rejects bail for Pragya Thakur

New Delhi: The Supreme Court rejected the bail plea of Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, who is facing charges for her alleged involvement in the 2008 Malegaon blast case. Senior advocate, Mahesh Jethmalani pleaded on her behalf. He claimed that she had been subjected to harassment, physical torture and verbal abuse by anti-terrorist squad. “She is entitled to bail because Maharashtra’s Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) had failed to file the charge sheet against her within the mandatory 90 days of her arrest on October 23, 2008,” he added.

The Maharashtra government had, however, told the court that Thakur was arrested on October 23 in Surat and produced before a magistrate as required by the law. The Maharashtra government had opposed her request for bail.

Thakur has been in custody of the ATS since October 2008, and is facing charges under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). The blast had occurred at Malegaon on September 29, 2008, killing seven people. Mumbai’s Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) claims that Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur conspired with Lt Col Prasad Purohit in planning the terror attack in the communally-sensitive town of Malegaon.